Research Article: Risk factors and protective factors of acute postoperative pain: an observational study at a German university hospital with cross-sectional and longitudinal inpatient data
Abstract:
Objectives Surgical fear is one of the most important psychological risk factors for postoperative pain, but less is known about the contribution of protective factors. This study investigated somatic and psychological risk and resilience factors of postoperative pain and validated the German version of the Surgical Fear Questionnaire (SFQ). Setting University Hospital of Marburg, Germany. Design Single-centre observational study and cross-sectional validation study. Participants Data for validating the SFQ were obtained from a cross-sectional observational study (N=198, mean age 43.6 years, 58.8% female) with persons undergoing different kinds of elective surgery. A sample of N=196 (mean age 43.0 years, 45.4% female) undergoing elective (orthopaedic) surgery was analysed to investigate somatic and psychological predictors of relevant acute postsurgical pain (APSP). Outcome measures Participants completed preoperative and postoperative assessments at postoperative days 1, 2 and 7. Presurgical pain, age, gender, pain expectation, surgical setting, physical status, anaesthesia, surgical fear, pain catastrophising, depression, optimism and self-efficacy were examined as predictors. Results Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the original two-factor structure of the SFQ. Correlation analyses indicated good convergent and divergent validity. Internal consistency (Cronbach’s ?) was between 0.85 and 0.89. Blockwise logistic regression analyses for the risk of APSP revealed outpatient setting, higher preoperative pain, younger age, more surgical fear and low dispositional optimism as significant predictors. Conclusions The German SFQ is a valid, reliable and economical instrument with which the important psychological predictor surgical fear can be assessed. Modifiable factors that increase the risk of postoperative pain were higher pain intensity before surgery and being fearful about negative consequences of the surgery whereas positive expectations seem to buffer against postsurgical pain. Trial registration numbers DRKS00021764 and DRKS00021766.
Introduction:
All over the globe, the number of surgeries is significantly increasing. In 2012, 312.9?million operations were performed worldwide, which was an increase of 34% over 8 years. 1 A US national survey showed that about 86% of patients undergoing surgery had postsurgical pain 2 3 and a Norwegian population-based study found that 40% experienced persistent pain 3?months after surgery. 4 Moderate to severe acute postsurgical pain (APSP) was experienced by 41% at the day of surgery and 30% on the first postoperative day…
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